Regulation round-up 26 March 2013
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (20 March to 26 March 2013).
Greece submits 2020 OPAP online monopoly plans
Ministry of Finance submits gaming proposals to European Commission outlining plans for monopoly.
State-owned operator OPAP could have a monopoly over almost all online gaming in Greece until 2020 under proposals submitted to the European Commission by the country’s Ministry of Finance.
In a move set to ruffle feathers at Europe’s leading egaming operators, only licences for “milder” forms of gambling such as live casino and poker tournaments would be available in the country.
OPAP currently holds a monopoly across all offline betting products in Greece including sports betting, however plans to offer the operator exclusivity for online gaming until 2020 were revealed in December when a bill submitted by the Ministry of Finance was leaked.
The proposals also state that online casino games and online RNG games will be banned, due to these games being “highly addictive” and therefore “not suitable to participate in these players residing within the comfort of their home or otherwise of their personal space”.
The submission also includes a provision to allow 35,000 additional VLT machines in the country.
888 granted NV online poker licence
Gibraltar-licensed operator set to offer 888- branded poker product in Silver State.
888 has been awarded a licence to offer its online poker product to players in Nevada by the state’s Gaming Commission, in what CEO Brian Mattingley has described as “an historic moment” for the operator.
The approval, two weeks after the Nevada Gaming Control Board gave its recommendation, will see 888 partner with operator licensee Las Vegas casino Treasure Island to launch an 888-branded poker product.
The Commission’s approval puts 888 in a strong position as the only foreign online gaming company licensed to effectively act as an operator in the state.
Mattingley confirmed earlier this month that the company had entered into a joint venture agreement with investment firm Avenue Capital Group to offer a US-facing B2C gaming offering when regulation allows, initially in Nevada under the Treasure Island licence.
Italian exchange betting decree gets ministerial green light
Finance minister approves regulatory proposals – Betfair describes decision as “an important step”.
Italy’s finance minister has approved the country’s decree allowing for regulated exchange betting, giving the green light for operators to introduce the product into the dot.it market.
The approval comes more than a year after the decree was first introduced, and more than nine months after the legislation received the go-ahead from the European Commission.
Only a handful of operators are in a position to introduce exchange betting in Italy, with Microgame – via its agreement with Betdaq – and Betfair among the most prominent.
Betfair director of corporate and legal affairs Martin Cruddace said of the news: “A number of procedural steps remain, but this is an important step towards Italian customers being able to access this innovative sports betting product.”
Seven days in regulation
ARJEL: 90% of Full Tilt’s French players have been repaid
Regulator says liquidation of Rekop Limited will not affect reimbursement process.
French regulatory body Autorité de regulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) has revealed that approximately 90% of the balances owed to Full Tilt’s former dot.fr player base have been returned.
Having issued instructions last year on how players could ‘pair’ their accounts with PokerStars.fr accounts following Stars taking over selected Full Tilt assets last year, ARJEL confirmed that 4.1m of the 4.7m in total balances has been returned to players.
The regulator has confirmed that the license revocation accompanying the opening of liquidation proceedings against Full Tilt Poker’s former French subsidiary will not impact the reimbursement of players on the operator’s now-defunct dot.fr site.
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EC told to prevent OPAP online monopoly
The Remote Gambling Association mounts challenge to Greece’s plan to extend operator’s land-based monopoly to online gambling products.
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has called on the European Commission to block plans by the Greek Government to allow state-owned operator OPAP a monopoly over certain online gambling products until 2020.
Greece’s plans to extend OPAP’s monopoly were confirmed last week when the Ministry of Finance wrote to the European Commission proposing changes to its gambling laws which would see the operator hold exclusivity for online gaming including sports betting and other gambling products such as casino and cash poker.
The RGA argues that the Greek government is attempting to protect OPAP’s share price in the build up to the sale of its 34% stake in the operator. “Unfortunately they have to distort the market and contravene European law to do so”, it said in a statement today.
Clive Hawkswood, CEO of the lobby group, added: “Having received notification that the Greek Government intends to extend what has already been declared an illegal monopoly to online gambling products, the ball is in the Commission’s court.”
Committee calls on ARJEL to implement stricter social gaming regulations
Independent body calls for stricter controls on social games “ suggests that social networks should be forced to operate under dot.fr licences.
An independent committee formed by L’Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) has called upon the French regulator to implement stricter controls on social gaming operators.
In a series of recommendations submitted to ARJEL the committee, chaired by ARJEL board members Laurent Sorbier and Jean-Luc Pain, aired a series of concerns about the close links between free-to-play social casino games and real-money gambling.
The committee explained that as companies are able to run both social and real-money offerings, there was danger that the social games could be used as an acquisition funnel for the egaming brands. As a result it recommended that a classification system for games be introduced to ensure that none of the social games offered via social networks contravened French egaming legislation.
Gambling sector a “soft target” for Treasury, says ABB chief
New report on day of budget reveals Britain’s betting industry a key contributor to the UK economy.
Gambling remains a “soft target” for the Treasury despite contributing £2.3bn towards British GDP and supporting around 40,000 jobs, a new report into the economic impact of the industry has found.
The study entitled The Full Picture: Measuring the Contribution of the British Betting Industry reveals that while the sector has shrunk since 2008 when last analysed, the level of taxes paid to government has remained roughly the same.
More widely, it claims that the industry has a far reaching impact on the rest of the UK economy, with a total economic footprint of £5bn in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA).
Neil Goulden, chairman of the ABB, added that the Licensed Betting Office sector is under “huge financial pressure”, driven by 9% retail inflation, and growing tax burden.
DGA lauds black market crackdown in first annual report
Danish regulator claims illegal gambling represents just five per cent of the country’s egaming market.
The Danish Gambling Authority has praised the contribution of players and operators in ensuring illegal gambling represents less than five percent of the dot.dk egaming market within its first year of operation.
The first dot.dk licences were issued in December 2011 ahead of the market officially opening the following month, and DGA director Birgitte Sand said: “I would like to emphasise the constructive cooperation with the many partners and stake holders that we are privileged to have in Denmark “ within the areas of gaming machines, land-based casinos and betting, non-profit associations, poker tournaments, monopolised games and online casinos.
Pinnacle hands back Alderney licence
Operator made decision before conclusion of investigations opened last year by Channel Island regulator.
Curaçao-licensed operator Pinnacle Sports has surrendered a secondary licence awarded by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC), a spokesman for the regulatory body has confirmed to eGaming Review.
The AGCC launched an investigation into the operator in October last year, after Pinnacle’s dot.com domain was named in the indictment of former Cantor Gaming sportsbook director Mike Colbert, and the regulator’s spokesman confirmed that the licence was surrendered in “early January”.